Later Years
by Amara9
Summary: Crappy title... also, first fic so don't go easy! POTS What happens to Tobe after those 4 years are up (ya know, the ones serving Kel that makes him free)? RR!


My attempt at an angsty fic, and quite poorly done! I was in a . . . weird mood when I wrote this. I don't own anything, that all goes to Tamora Pierce and who knows else, so: *mimics Homer Simpson's voice* "One, two, better not sue!"  
  
Hehe. Anyways, read, review, put me down as much as you want! But, please, don't try to kill me. Okay! Um . . . this is the part where you read the ficcy now.  
  
I DUNNO, JUST INSERT SOME CRAFTY TITLE WITH YOUR MIND OR SOMETHING  
  
It was midday when Kel and Tobe took a ride in the forest, making their own trail as they rode. It was midsummer and Kel was wearing a dress, which was no longer an odd sight to those around her. She was taking a year off from fighting at Pirate's Swoop, as was Lady Alanna, so that they could spend more time together. It had begun to seem as though once her knight career had truly begun, she only saw the Lady Knight when there was battle. As always, Tobe came along with Kel. However, Kel and Alanna's plans had been cut short after only two weeks, when Alanna had been called away on some urgent business in Corus. George was making them feel welcome and happy, but Kel had wanted some time to be alone in the woods, and Tobe had insisted to come with.  
  
"Too many caged horses," he had said. "I want to feel animals free."  
  
They had stopped for lunch and rested under a great oak, munching on ham and cheese and buttered rolls. All was silent, as Kel usually was when she was around Tobe. But not an uncomfortable silence. They had reached a point in their friendship that they could be around each other for hours, never once uttering a single word. She was looking at two sparrows playing in a nearby tree and remembering a dear friend, when Tobe suddenly turned to her and spoke.  
  
"Lady, I'm sixteen now."  
  
"I know, Tobe," Kel laughed. How could she forget? The entire celebration had been a big event, especially for Tobe, because this meant he could join the King's Own now.  
  
"Do you think me of a man?" Tobe asked, searching Kel's eyes with a haunting look that had never quite left his features since his abuse as a child.  
  
"I do, Tobe, and I'm quite proud."  
  
"We make a good team, don't we?" Tobe said, leaning against the trunk and looking straight ahead again.  
  
"Yes, we do. We make a great team," Kel agreed, and mimicked his pose, closing her eyes, and letting the soft sunlight fall on her through the heavy branches. She had grown her hair long for her stay with Alanna, and it fell just past her elbows in free, golden curls.  
  
'Beautiful, so beautiful,' Tobe thought, turning to look at her again.  
  
"We're not much apart, me being sixteen and you twenty-five."  
  
"Yes, we are," Kel told him, her face surprised. She opened her eyes again. True, she thought of him as a man, she hadn't lied, but the image of him when they first met had never truly left her mind.  
  
'And it had been, what, only ten years ago!' Kel protested in her mind.  
  
"Numair is much older than Daine than you are me! And . . . Lady . . . I believe I love you more than Numair loves his wildmage."  
  
This caught Keladry by surprise. She had never thought of Tobe in such a way, and never believed he had ever thought of her in that way before, either. "Don't say that. You don't love me. You respect me, as I do you. We're comrades, and don't call me Lady, I've had near enough of it. You serve me no more."  
  
"But . . . Lady - Kel, if you would give but one chance . . ."  
  
"I'm sorry, Tobe, but no." Kel stood up now, peering at him intently. What was wrong with him? Was he under the effect of a spell to cause him to act such a way? Surely he must be, or this would be a terrible disaster.  
  
"Lady . . ." Tobe stood up and leaned into her, torment displayed clearly in his features. His right hand grazed her cold cheek, his left reaching forward to hold her shoulder.  
  
"No, Tobe." Tobe drew back and flinched, as if hit by a stone. There were tears in his eyes, and they welled up and spilled down his tear-streaked cheeks.  
  
"I love you, Keladry," Tobe whispered, as his tears flowed freely, over his high cheekbones, some caught in his full lips, the rest dripping off his chin. "I always have, ever since you saved me from that retched innkeeper . . ." His voice cracked.  
  
"No . . ." Kel stuttered, backing away horrified. "No."  
  
"And I always will! Kel . . . Keladry, Lady! How can I tell you how much . . . if I could show . . ."  
  
"No, Tobe. You don't love me. You don't love me!" Keladry of Mindelan screamed at the top of her lungs, her cries echoing through the empty forest. Tears streamed from her eyes, and she wanted to turn away.  
  
"I do, Lady. Why don't you believe me?"  
  
"Because I can't," she told him, her voice trembling as she looked into his eyes. "Because it cannot be. Because if I say it is not so, it will not be true. It is not true. Am I correct, Tobe?" she had an edge of firmness to her voice, but behind her broken Yamani mask, she was near hysteria. "It is not true!" Keladry screamed again. "Tell me, Tobe!"  
  
"Yes, Lady," Tobe whispered, turning his head to the side and then looking down. "It - it is . . . is not true."  
  
"Good, Tobe. Now, let's get packed up. We wouldn't want George to worry."  
  
Tobe sighed, and wiped the tears from his cheeks. "No," he told her firmly, quietly, and disappeared into the forest. 


End file.
